We are on the cusp of a new era of space exploration and discovery with the upcoming XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft. Developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), XRISM is a cutting-edge mission that will explore some of the furthest reaches of the universe. It will investigate hot regions, the largest … Read more
The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (Krizz-em)! Scheduled for launch in August 2023, this collaborative mission between JAXA, NASA, and ESA will be studying the gas in galaxy clusters, the chemical enrichment of the universe, and extreme physics around accreting supermassive black holes. The mission consists of two parts: XRISM’s Resolve instrument, which will be … Read more
The discovery of HD 131399Ab has astounded astronomers. Not only is this the widest orbit within a multi-star system yet located, but it means other planets with similarly wide orbits could exist in similar star systems. The discovered July 2016 in, planet orbits a triple-star system, and for much of its year the stars … Read more
2MASX J05101744-4519179, a massive galaxy cluster located in the constellation Pictor,This distant galaxy cluster is an incredible sight for astronomers, with its luminous X-ray emissions and powerful gravitational lenses. Here we will discuss the unique features of this galaxy cluster and how they are helping us to better understand the evolution of … Read more
India has been at the forefront of space exploration and is all set to launch Aditya L1 – its first ever space based mission to study the Sun. The mission will be launched in a halo orbit around the Lagrange Point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, located at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers … Read more
August 2008 marked 15 years since the Mars Phoenix Lander completed its three-month mission studying Martian ice, soil, and atmosphere. The mission was a success, providing groundbreaking insights into the potential for life on the Red Planet.The main objectives of the mission were to search for evidence of a habitable zone, study the history of … Read more
A satellite launched 20 years ago to advance understanding of the depletion of the ozone layer! This mission is a collaboration between universities, government, and industry, and its success is due to the hard work of a team of Canadian and international scientists led by Dr. Peter Bernath at the University of Waterloo. So, what … Read more
On August 8-10, 2023, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)/ISRO, in collaboration with the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE)/DRDO, conducted a series of successful drogue parachute deployment tests at the Rail Track Rocket Sled (RTRS) facility of the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory in Chandigarh. This test is a crucial step towards the … Read more
Have you ever gazed up at the sky and wondered what lies beyond our world? Thanks to the amazing imaging technology of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, we can now explore galaxies far away from our own. One such galaxy, NGC 6684, is a lenticular galaxy located 44 million light-years away in the constellation … Read more
It is amazing to think that our solar system is now tied for the most planets around a single star with the newfound discovery of Kepler-90i. In 2017, This exoplanet was discovered using artificial intelligence from Google, which shows that technology can be used to explore the unknown beyond our solar system. This recent … Read more
A close-up of the panorama taken by Curiosity’s Mastcam at “Pontours” reveals hexagonal patterns – outlined in red in the same image, right – that suggest these mud cracks formed after many wet-dry cycles occurring over years. Often when we ponder the origins of life on Earth, we look to the another planet for … Read more
Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the supernova remnant N103B (also known as SNR 0509-68.7) is a fascinating object for astronomers to explore. Captured in this image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the orange-red filaments show the shock fronts of the explosion, which allow us to calculate the original centre of the explosion. … Read more
On August 2, 2023, the 871st Martian day of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover mission, the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard the agency’s rover produced this remarkable view of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter from its 54th flight. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter recently completed its 54th flight, the first since it cut its previous flight short. This 25-second … Read more
We’ve seen it all before: beautiful nebulae, star-studded galaxies, and mysterious pulsars. But something truly remarkable has recently been discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud: two exploded stars that together form a cat-shaped image. This discovery was made possible by a combination of red and green X-ray images, and blue optical images. The Chandra … Read more
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope snapped a picture of a delicate sphere of gas, otherwise known as SNR 0509-67.5 (or SNR 0509 for short). This pristine shell, or bubble, is the result of gas being shocked by an expanding blast wave from a supernova. It’s located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which is about … Read more
